The First Record "Daughters" Delves Into Sorrow and Style
Within this track "Miss America", audiences find themselves inside a lodging close to JFK airfield, as the musician receives the heartbreaking news of her father's illness diagnosis. This Sunderland-born artist had been traveling America for the first time, drumming with group Kero Kero Bonito, when suddenly grief takes over, tinging everything in grey. Unsteady keys and hushed orchestration underscore dark reports from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."
Her gentle vocals are delivered in a deadpan style, while this record's tension stems from her sharp writing—blending fiction, folksy sayings, and direct diary entries—coupled with surprising maximalism. Few songs recently showcase more potent novelistic flair than "Shelly", which describes the killing of an animal and descends into a fuel-soaked reckoning, reminiscent of literary pieces illuminated by flickers of distorted cello. Anxious, subdued sections with echoing, strummed guitar transition to grand refrains, with her voice electronically altered into something all-knowing and menacing.
Audiences may previously know the artist as a music creator, DJ, and member to bands like Caroline. Daughters' sonic turns draw on this diverse background. The opener "Sometimes" erupts with fanfare, like an ensemble caught by surprise, while "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the BPM with a punishing, beautiful, looping percussion. Dense layers of audio, expertly produced with a longtime partner, seem both rough and ethereal, and her morbid, enchanted thoughts peak on highlight "Lambs", a song that briefly transforms into a twirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," she pleads, exuding poignant gallows humor.
